An anonymous reader writes: The Mono Project has created an implementation of Silverlight which runs on Linux thus allowing Linux users to view new Silverlight content. The project, known as Moonlight, is still in the early development stages, with only 21 days of development completed, yet it is still able to display non-trivial Silverlight applications. A public release is likely to be ready before the end of the summer.

In an update to a prior Slashdot article, Google has just announced the Google Summer of Code 2007 application deadline is now extended to March 26 ( Timeline ) -- more specifically March 26 at 5:00 PM Pacific time (12:00 AM UTC March 27, 2007).

taxingmonk writes: Marc Fleury has resigned from Red Hat. At the moment the only reference appears to be at theserverside. As one of the Java communities more colourful characters he's certainly come in for some flak. No doubt people from all corners of the Java world will have a mixture of scorn and praise for a man people either love or hate. Interestingly the author of the story has a few good words for the man who was famously caught astroturfing on the same website as previously covered by Slashdot.

nile_list writes: "Linux.com reports that OpenSSL regained its FIPS 140-2 validation, required for crypto software used by the government to handle sensitive data. It took them over 5 years what usually takes a few months. One of the complications was new testing procedures and the fact that users can compile OpenSSL with different functionality, resulting in needing to test the actual source code instead of just binaries. The other: 'According to John Weathersby, executive director for OSSI, several proprietary software companies with similar products mounted a campaign to delay, if not totally derail, the validation of an open source SSL toolkit.' Among the complaints sent to the testing body was fear of Commie code: 'Apparently, OpenSSL was accused of having "Communist code" in it simply because a developer in Russia had worked on it.'"

An anonymous reader writes: Robert Zubrin, of The New Atlantis, argues against the idea of basing the US energy policy on hydrogen. His argument, explained through economics and physics, explains why using hydrogen for energy is a bad idea.

An excerpt from the article:

So if we put aside the spectacularly improbable prospect of fueling our planet with extraterrestrial hydrogen imports, the only way to get free hydrogen on Earth is to make it. The trouble is that making hydrogen requires more energy than the hydrogen so produced can provide. Hydrogen, therefore, is not a source of energy. It simply is a carrier of energy. And it is, as we shall see, an extremely poor one.

VE3OGG writes: "As reported on Slashdot before the state of blogging in Egypt has been quite uncertain. Among the first bloggers to be arrested was Karim Amer, a student who now faces up to 10 years for his writings which criticize religious authority in Egypt. Now it would seem that Amer has enlisted the help of Amnesty International in his fight who says "Amnesty International considers Karim Amer to be a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted on account of the peaceful expression of his views about Islam and the al-Azhar religious authorities. We are calling for his immediate and unconditional release.""

Posted
by
Zonk
on Friday February 09, 2007 @09:56AM
from the acting-like-adults-at-nasa dept.

FloatsomNJetsom writes "Popular Mechanics has up an interesting story, discussing what the long-term implications of the Lisa Nowak incident could mean for Mars Mission crew decisions: With a 30-month roundtrip, that isn't the sort of thing you'd want to happen in space. Scientists have been warning about the problems of sex on long-term spaceflight, and experts are divided as to whether you want a crew of older married couples, or asexual unitard-wearing eunuchs. The point the article makes specifically is that NASA's current archetype of highly-driven, task-oriented people might be precisely the wrong type for a Mars expedition. In addition scientists may use genomics or even functional MRI in screening astronauts, in addition to facial-recognition computers to monitor mental health during the mission." Maybe observers could just deploy the brain scanner to keep track of them?

The sneakers work when the wearer presses a button on the shoe to activate the GPS. A wireless alert detailing the location is sent to a 24-hour monitoring service that costs an additional $19.95 a month."

VE3OGG writes: "While Jobs is calling for the DRM wall to be torn down, Microsoft has decided to issue a counterpoint, with Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, saying that "DRM is important". "We don't completely understand [Apple's reluctance to license FairPlay], but OK. We've been very focused on producing a DRM system. We're willing to license it across the board." This despite Microsoft's latest Zune DRM. "Bach insisted that there is no contradiction, that the market needs both.""